How do I stop Spotify notifications from lowering music on my Android phone?
Many Android users experience an annoying issue where Spotify notifications abruptly lower the volume of music playback. This sudden drop in volume can disrupt listening and make it difficult to hear the music. When a notification arrives, Spotify automatically ducks the volume, sometimes drastically cutting the audio in half. Once the notification sound ends, the music volume returns to normal.
This default behavior seems intended to avoid playback and notification sounds overlapping or becoming too loud overall. However, the sharp volume decrease can be jarring, especially when using headphones or listening intently. Thankfully, Android provides controls to disable this volume ducking or customize how Spotify handles notifications.
Confirm the Issue
The issue of Spotify lowering the volume when receiving notifications is a common problem experienced by many Android users. When notifications come in from messaging apps, emails, or other sources, the Spotify volume will temporarily decrease. This behavior has been widely reported by users across Reddit threads and forums:
“This just started happening but my Spotify volume automatically lowers temporarily every time I get a notification. This is really annoying.” (Source)
“When I play from YouTube on my phone while connected to android auto, the volume rises back up after the notification, so if that counts as …” (Source)
The issue can be easily replicated by playing music on Spotify and then receiving a notification from an app like WhatsApp, Messenger, Gmail, etc. As soon as the notification comes in, the Spotify volume will dip for a few seconds before returning to the previous level.
Understand the Cause
The issue arises because Spotify treats its notifications as high priority, while the Android operating system automatically lowers the media volume whenever any notification comes through. As explained on the Spotify community forums, Spotify sets its notifications to priority status by default. Meanwhile, Android 10 and newer versions include notification controls that duck media playback volume when notifications pop up, as noted in this Reddit thread. So Spotify’s high priority notifications trigger Android’s media ducking feature, which lowers your Spotify music volume whenever a Spotify notification appears.
Access Notification Settings
To adjust notification settings for Spotify, you first need to access the overall notification settings for your Android device. This is done by opening the Settings app on your phone:
Open the Settings app on your Android phone. On many Android devices, you can swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the gear icon to open Settings. Or open your apps drawer and tap the Settings app icon directly.
Once in Settings, navigate to the section for managing app notifications. On Android 9 and higher, go to Apps & Notifications > Notifications. On older versions, look for an Apps or Application Manager section.
Here you can view notification settings for all apps installed on your device. Next we’ll locate the Spotify app in order to adjust its specific notification settings.
Locate Spotify App
To adjust the notification settings for Spotify, you first need to locate the Spotify app on your Android device. Here are the steps:
1. Open the Settings app on your Android phone or tablet. This is usually done by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon for Settings.
2. In Settings, tap “Apps & notifications” or “Applications.”
3. Scroll down and find Spotify in the list of apps installed on your device.
4. Tap the Spotify app to open the app info screen.
From here, you can access the notification settings and permissions for Spotify specifically. The next step is to navigate to the notifications section of the Spotify app info screen.
Adjust Notification Settings
To adjust the notification settings for Spotify on your Android device, first open the Settings app and select Notifications. Here you will see a list of all the apps installed on your device that have notification capabilities. Locate Spotify in this list and select it.
Within the Spotify notification settings, look for options related to notification priority or importance. For example, there may be toggles for “Allow priority interruptions” or “Treat as priority.” Disable these options or set Spotify’s notification priority to Low if possible. This will prevent Spotify notifications from taking over your device’s lock screen or interrupting other apps.
Alternatively, you can simply toggle off all Spotify notifications entirely if you don’t need them. Just disable the switch next to “Allow notifications” or “Show notifications” to stop getting Spotify notifications on your device.
According to users on Reddit and Android Central forums, adjusting Spotify’s notification priority in your device settings seems to be the recommended solution for stopping music from lowering when a Spotify notification appears [1]. This gives the notifications less prominence without fully disabling them.
Test the Solution
After adjusting the notification settings in Spotify, you’ll want to test whether the changes were effective at preventing music volume from lowering. Here are the steps:
- Start playing a song or playlist in Spotify
- Adjust the volume in Spotify to your desired listening level
- Trigger a Spotify notification by having a friend send you a message or set a reminder alarm
- Pay attention to the music volume when the notification appears
- Verify that the music volume stays at the same level and does not decrease
- If the volume decreases, go back and review your notification settings for Spotify and make additional changes
The goal is to ensure Spotify notifications do not cause any temporary audio focus loss or volume ducking. By testing with actual notifications, you can confirm the adjusted settings have resolved the issue.
Consider Other Options
As well as adjusting notification settings in the Spotify app, there are some other options for reducing notifications:
Mute Notifications
You can mute all notifications from Spotify temporarily by using your phone’s Do Not Disturb mode. This will mute notifications system-wide and is useful if you just want a short break from interruptions [1].
Disable Specific Notification Types
In the Spotify notification settings screen, you can toggle off specific notification types like New Releases or Playback and Spotify Mix. This allows you to keep some alerts while disabling ones that might interrupt your music playback [2].
Adjust In-App Settings
Some notification issues in Spotify relate to in-app options, rather than system notifications. Go through settings in the Spotify app and adjust options that affect music playback and recommendations.
[1] https://support.spotify.com/us/article/notification-settings/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/truespotify/comments/yu3zg8/
Troubleshooting
If after adjusting the notification settings in Spotify’s app settings, you still find that notifications are lowering the volume of your music when they come through, there are a few more things you can try. First, double check that you adjusted the correct notification settings within the Spotify app – go back and ensure ‘Sounds’ is disabled for notifications according to Spotify’s guidelines.
You may also want to check your overall notification settings in your Android device’s main settings menu. Go to Settings > Notifications and see if there are any global controls for notification sounds that could be overriding your changes within the Spotify app. Turn off any unnecessary notification sounds here.
As a last resort, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the Spotify app. This will reset all of its settings and allow you to toggle notifications off fresh. Just be sure to backup any playlists or favorites first so you don’t lose your profile data.
Conclusion
It’s possible to fix Spotify notification volume by turning off the auto-lower function or customizing the volume level through your device settings. The key steps discussed in the article above were reviewing notification settings, locating the Spotify app, and adjusting the options to your preferences. Between customizing settings or muting notifications altogether, we covered a few solutions.
After testing the adjustment steps, hopefully your Spotify notifications are behaving as desired without interfering with your music playback. If you tried multiple options but are still experiencing unwanted notification sounds, it may help to uninstall and reinstall the Spotify app, or reach out to their customer support.
Beyond Spotify, most apps provide their own notification settings you can review and customize as needed. Using your device settings, you generally have control over notification behavior across all your installed apps. Take some time to explore those controls if notifications are disrupting your experience. With some trial and error, you should be able to configure device notifications to suit your needs and preferences.